{"data":{"id":"us-dc/d.c.-code-8-1772.21","jurisdiction":"us-dc","citation":"D.C. Code § 8-1772.21","heading":"Establishment of a Building Energy Performance Standard Program.","body":"(a)\nThis section shall apply to:\n(1)\nBeginning January 1, 2021, all privately-owned buildings with at least 50,000 square feet of gross floor area and all District-owned or District instrumentality-owned buildings with at least 10,000 square feet of gross floor area;\n(2)\nBeginning January 1, 2028, all privately-owned buildings with at least 25,000 square feet of gross floor area; and\n(3)\nBeginning January 1, 2034, all privately-owned buildings with at least 10,000 square feet of gross floor area.\n\n(b)\n(1)\n(A)\nNo later than January 1, 2021, January 1, 2028, and every 6 years thereafter, DOEE shall, by rulemaking or publication on the DOEE website, establish property types and building energy performance standards for each property type, or an equivalent metric for buildings that do not receive an ENERGY STAR score.\n(B)\nDOEE shall establish reporting and data verification requirements for each 5-year compliance cycle.\n(C)\n(i)\nIn developing energy performance standards, DOEE shall seek to help the District achieve its short- and long-term climate commitments, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2045.\n(ii)\nFor buildings that are eligible for an ENERGY STAR score, the building energy performance standard shall be no lower than the District median ENERGY STAR score for buildings of each property type.\n(2)\nDOEE shall establish campus-wide energy performance standards for post-secondary educational institutions and hospitals with multiple buildings in a single location that are owned by a single entity; provided, that the development of any standard by DOEE shall be based upon an analysis of the existing building efficiency of each campus and the compliance pathways shall achieve savings comparable to those outlined in subsection (d)(1) of this section.  In establishing specific performance standards, DOEE shall consider:\n(A)\nThe existence of any historic buildings and any restrictions related to the treatment of historic buildings or districts;\n(B)\nThe diversity of building uses and requirements for the campus and its operations; and\n(C)\nThe impact on any zoning regulation or campus plan requirement.\n\n(c)\n(1)\nAll buildings below the energy performance standard for their property type, established pursuant to subsection (b)(1) and (2) of this section, shall have 5 years from the date the performance standards are established to meet the building energy performance requirements established by DOEE; except, that for buildings subject to the compliance cycle that began on January 1, 2021, all buildings shall have 6 years from the date that the standards are established to meet the energy performance requirements established by DOEE.\n(2)\nFor the compliance cycle that began on January 1, 2021, the 6-year compliance cycle specified in paragraph (1) of this subsection shall include a one-year delay of compliance due to the COVID-19 public health emergency provided to building owners by DOEE through rulemaking.\n\n(d)\nDOEE shall establish multiple compliance pathways for buildings to meet the building energy performance requirements, including:\n(1)\nA performance pathway, which shall require a building to demonstrate a greater than 20% decrease in normalized site energy use intensity averaged over the last year of the 5-year compliance cycle, as compared to the normalized site energy use intensity of the year preceding the first year of the 5-year compliance cycle; except that, for a building that is subject to the compliance cycle that began on January 1, 2021, a performance pathway shall require a building to demonstrate a greater than 20% decrease in normalized site energy use intensity averaged over the last year of the compliance cycle, as compared to the normalized site energy use intensity averaged over calendar years 2018 and 2019; and;\n(2)\nFor the compliance cycle that began on January 1, 2021, a prescriptive pathway for buildings to achieve compliance by implementing cost-effective energy efficiency measures with savings comparable to the performance pathway;\n(2A)\nFor the compliance cycle beginning January 1, 2028, a trajectory pathway, in accordance with the recommendations in the report required by subsection (h) of this section, which shall require a building to meet building-specific performance targets that are established upon a trajectory from a baseline determined by DOEE towards long-term performance targets determined by DOEE through rulemaking or publication on the DOEE website; and\n(3)\nOther compliance pathways established by DOEE.\n\n(e)\n(1)\nDOEE shall establish exemption criteria for qualifying buildings to delay compliance with the building energy performance requirements for up to 3 years if the owner demonstrates, to the satisfaction of DOEE, change of ownership, major renovation, pending demolition, or other acceptable circumstances determined by DOEE by regulation.\n(1A)\nDOEE shall establish criteria to exempt qualifying buildings from the building energy performance requirements for a given compliance cycle if the owner demonstrates, to the satisfaction of DOEE, financial distress, the qualifying building was below sufficient occupancy thresholds for either of the 2 years preceding the compliance cycle, or other acceptable circumstances determined by DOEE by regulation.\n(2)\nDOEE may establish an exemption criterion for qualifying affordable housing buildings to delay compliance with the building energy performance requirements for more than 3 years; provided, that the owner demonstrates, to the satisfaction of DOEE, financial distress, change of ownership, vacancy, major renovation, pending demolition, or other acceptable circumstances as determined by DOEE by regulation.\n\n(f)\nDOEE shall coordinate with the Sustainable Energy Utility, selected pursuant to Chapter 17N of this title, and the Green Finance Authority, established by § 8-173.21, to establish an incentive and financial assistance program for qualifying building owners and affordable housing providers to meet building energy performance requirements.\n\n(g)\n(1)\nBuildings failing to comply with the building energy performance requirements at the end of the 5-year compliance period shall pay an alternative compliance payment established by DOEE.\n(2)\nDOEE may establish through rulemaking criteria to allow a building owner to recover from its non-residential tenants all or part of an alternative compliance payment rendered pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection.\n(3)\nPayments collected pursuant to this subsection shall be deposited into the Sustainable Energy Trust Fund.\n\n(h)\nBy January 1, 2023, DOEE shall publish a report assessing whether the building energy performance standard should be revised to a standard based on reducing contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, and if so, recommend a method and timeline for doing so, including any statutory changes needed.\n\n(i)\nDOEE may impose civil infraction penalties, fines, and fees as sanctions for a violation of this section or a regulation issued pursuant to this section, pursuant to Chapter 18 of Title 2.\n\n(j)\nThe Attorney General for the District of Columbia may commence a civil action in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia or any other court of competent jurisdiction for damages, cost recovery, reasonable attorney and expert witness fees, and injunctive or other appropriate relief to enforce compliance with this section or a regulation issued pursuant to this section.\n\n(j-1)\nDOEE shall amend appropriate regulations to remove the cost of interior mechanical and electrical upgrades that are undertaken for the express purpose of compliance with the requirements of this section from calculations to determine whether the project triggers Stormwater requirements.\n\n(k)\nFor the purposes of this section, the term \"affordable housing\" means buildings that are primarily residential, contain 5 or more dwelling units, and:\n(1)\nIn which use restrictions or other covenants require that at least 50% of all of the building's dwelling units are occupied by households that have household incomes of less than or equal to 80% of the area median income; or\n(2)\nThe building owner can demonstrate that at least 50% of the dwelling units rent at levels that are affordable to households with incomes less than or equal to 80% of the area median income.","path":["Title 8. Environmental and Animal Control and Protection.","Chapter 17M-i. Commercial and Local Government Property Energy Conservation.","Subchapter II. Building Energy Performance Standards and Benchmarking."],"source_url":"https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/8-1772.21","current_through":"2026-08-20 (D.C. Law 26-175)","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-29T05:44:07Z","sha256":"6ed2dbb407e8db398a4a269149db97c6cea3ebdc518f9608d23c7c4c1f2dd58b","source_id":"us-dc","stale":false,"prev":"us-dc/d.c.-code-8-1772.04","next":"us-dc/d.c.-code-8-1772.22"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}